ocregister/articles/toll-634687-lanes-going.html COSTA MESA – Representatives from six cities in the I-405 corridor spoke out against a Caltrans proposal to add toll lanes on the freeway at a community forum Thursday that was attended by dozens of residents. The plan, announced by Caltrans in July, would include toll lanes as a part of the county’s impending $1.3-billion construction project to widen a 14-mile stretch of the I-405 from the 605 freeway at the Los Angeles county line to the 73, adding standard lanes in each direction. Whether or not Caltrans will get the estimated $400 million to install high-occupancy toll lanes remains to be seen, but the proposal is scheduled to go before the Orange County Transportation Authority Board of Directors on Sept. 22. New lanes on the often-congested freeway were promised to residents after passing Measure M2 in 2006, a half-cent sales tax intended to fund countywide transportation-related improvement. The Orange County Transportation Authority expects to start construction by 2016 and finish by 2021, with or without the toll lanes. “If people knew that there would be a toll lane when they voted for Measure M, it wouldn’t have passed,” said Costa Mesa Mayor Jim Righeimer. The six cities represented were Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Westminster, Seal Beach, Los Alamitos and Fountain Valley. According to OCTA figures, the toll for the 12-mile stretch going northbound would be $11.58 and $6.96 for the 12.1-mile stretch southbound. “This project will get people, goods and services moving faster,” said Caltrans District 12 Director Ryan Chamberlain. “That’s the bottom line. It’s not about generating revenue.” Caltrans representative David Richardson said that if the toll lane plan isn’t adopted, travel times within the corridor’s general lanes could reach two hours by the year 2040, with about 6,000 vehicles traveling per hour. With the plan, the agency hopes to cut the travel time by the same year to half an hour, and about 13 minutes in one of the express lanes. While both Richardson and Chamberlain said no Measure M money would be used in construction of the toll lanes and that Caltrans is looking for funding for them, many of the speakers disagreed. “That’s not accurate,” said 74th District Assemblyman Allan Mansoor. “That money is going to be used as mentioned, to build bridges, to widen them, but it’s going to enable the toll lanes ... so down the road – no pun intended – they’re going to convert that to a toll lane or they’re going to make you go through additional construction after that to put in the toll lane.” Irvine City Councilwoman Beth Krom, who also spoke at the forum, accused CalTrans of trying to “piggyback” on Measure M funds, a initiative, she said, county residents took on themselves to help fund improvements. “My city strongly supported Measure M,” Krom said. “This is the first shot across the bow. California can not sit by while our infastructure - that was built at a time when government leaders and government institutions actually believed in investing in infastructure - and take those and turn them into cash cows for government agencies.” Many members of the public who spoke at the forum were residents of North County cities such as Seal Beach and Westminster, some of whom said they feel the toll lanes will be more of an asset to South County. “No offense to Caltrans, but you must think that we all fell off the turnip truck,” said Seal Beach resident Patty Campbell. “If the freeway is clogged, people are going to take the side streets, and we’re going to take the hit. This will be a benefit to few at the expense of many.”
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 00:46:44 +0000